Greener electronics Samsung ranking: Second Edition

Samsung gets top marks for providing a timeline for phasing out brominated flame retardants (BFRs). It loses points for providing voluntary product take back of its electronic waste only in a few countries and only for some product groups. The company is also weak on information to consumers on what to do with their discarded Samsung products and on reporting on the amounts of electronic-waste collected and recycled. Samsung’s downward slide in the ranking is due to its double standards on Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR), losing it the points scored for supporting IPR. While Samsung’s global website states that the company believes that the producer (not consumer) should be responsible for financing the waste management of its own brand products when they are discarded; in the US, Samsung is part of a Coalition that has been opposing Producer Responsibility and lobbying for U.S. consumers to pay an Advanced Recycling Fee (ARF).

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